Health Benefits, Cooking Recipes and Real Stories About Kefir

How Drinking Kefir Can Help Diabetics

Kefir seems to have an answer to everything including diabetes. This is good news since according to a 2010 poll, there are already 285 million people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, which is the most common type of this disease. I am not diabetic, but I am a kefir fan and I want to know if kefir can indeed benefit even diabetics.

I am just amazed at how many illnesses kefir can treat, and so I want to know if it can also help people suffering from diabetes. I do understand that there is no cure to diabetes. It is a chronic disease, which means once you have it, you have it for life.

The goal of a diabetic and his doctor is to manage the disease in order to avoid diabetic complications and make life beautiful again. Such complications include a host of bad to dreadful news such as hypertension, stroke, heart disease and death. I want to see if kefir can help diabetics avoid these dreaded complications, and I have a simple 2-step plan to investigate this.

One, I will try to understand what diabetes is and what diabetics need; and two, I will look into the different properties and capabilities of kefir that could address the needs of a diabetic. I am not a doctor. But although my investigation may not be as deep as a doctor’s would, it will be carefully researched, easy to understand and hopefully helpful for a person suffering from diabetes. That said, here we go.

Diabetes is a condition where there is too much sugar in your body. Sugar tastes yummy, but if you have much more than your body needs, sugar will do a lot of harm to your organs and could lead to a heart attack. Normally, our bodies burn sugar so that there won’t be an oversupply of it. Our pancreas produces a hormone whose main task is to convert sugar (glucose) into energy for our cells. The hormone is called insulin.

A person who has Type 1 Diabetes does not produce insulin, and so there is overabundance of sugar. Normally, it is the children who suffer from this type. Type 2 diabetics are those whose bodies can’t produce enough insulin or can’t properly convert them into energy.

Type 2 Diabetes typically results from bad eating habits, too much alcohol and very little exercise. This makes perfect sense. If you eat and drink too many sweets (and carbohydrates), you will have an overabundance of sugar in your body. And if you don’t exercise, the glucose won’t convert into energy.

Another type is called gestational diabetes. Only pregnant women get this since pregnancy leads to the overproduction of blood glucose. This condition could lead to Type 2.

What Type 2 diabetics need is simple: a change of lifestyle and a sufficient dose of insulin.

Diabetic patients should start to seriously watch what they eat. They should eat healthy (fewer carbs, less sugar, less alcohol) and lose weight.

And so, that is all I need say about diabetes for the moment. The data may not be as extensive as how a doctor would have discussed it, but it pretty much covers the basics relevant to our question. Now, let’s take a closer look at kefir.

Kefir is a milk that has been fermented by a bacteria culture that is present in kefir grains. Kefir grains are made up of yeasts and bacteria that exist symbiotically in a community of proteins and sugars. Simply put, kefir is fermented milk with a host of probiotics (friendly, beneficial bacteria). It is also packed with enzymes, folic acid, vitamins (B and K) and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorous.

Another important content is digestible protein. The types of protein found in kefir are not meat-based and so they will neither damage the heart nor raise cholesterol levels. Instead, they will help in rebuilding cells, organs and systems.

Kefir, specifically water kefir, also has lactic acids. While milk kefir grains (the more popular type of kefir) ferment milk by feeding on lactose, water kefir grains feed on sugar. They are mixed with sugar-water solution to produce a bubbly, carbonated water kefir drink, which many consider a healthy soda pop substitute.

As water kefir grains eat the sugar in the solution, they produce carbon dioxide, alcohol and lactic acid. The production of lactic acid is the first sign of help for diabetics. Due to kefir’s capability to produce lactic acid, this beverage could prove to be very beneficial to diabetic patients, specifically in the area of reducing blood sugar levels due to its acidity. Several studies prove (and most diabetics know this) that even a little amount of acid can reduce blood glucose levels. Doctors often advise diabetic patients to consume lemon, vinegar or extra virgin oil for their acidic contents.

According to “The Diabetes Club”, people with diabetes should also consider drinking kefir and other fermented dairy products with lactic acid such as yogurt, sour milk and some cottage cheeses. Furthermore, what diabetics need that kefir can provide is the power to win over the unnecessary cravings for food. In addition to lactic acid, kefir has naturally occurring sugar contents and these can help in regulating blood sugar levels. As blood sugar levels drop, people feel an urge to eat. Kefir can eliminate those urges. This is also why kefir is considered a helpful drink for weightwatchers.

So, there it is. This was not a very extensive investigation but I believe it makes a lot of sense. The web is teeming with testimonials of diabetic patients who have found a sense of balance and happiness after including kefir in their regular diet. The best thing about kefir is that is has no side effects. This means diabetics have nothing to lose and potentially with everything to gain when drinking kefir.

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12 thoughts on “How Drinking Kefir Can Help Diabetics”

As per the studies made on diabetic patients, doctors and
nurses prefer including more level of fibre rich fruits of their diet.
These fruits with low sugar concentration can be useful for controlling blood glucose level with a maximum extend.

I come from a family with a history of diabetes. I was very vigilant at wacthing my diet and was very active. After a car accident involing my three children and myself, were so many of us had life changing injuries , I suddenly had hypertension and type two diabetes. I had , had yearly check ups with my doctor before this. He said it was stress induced , that nothing in my previous history showed that I was on this path. I did not drink, over eat and did not care much for artificial sugars. He said that I possibly would have become diabetic later on in , stress had brought it on much sooner. My pancreas was also injuried in this accident. All diabetics are not fat lazy slobs who just eat mindlessly. I personally don’t think there is a good understanding of things which contribute to diabetes other than what is the most common train of thought. Injuries, surgeries, health issues which make it diffcult to exercise are just some of my thoughts. I ask that you just not clump everyone into same category.

l am Sarah from kenya have enjoyed taking Kefir water juice but my problem is my level of acidity is so
high when l take it l get sick. stomack ulers. please advice whether l should continue taking or not please.

The acid level of Water kefir is very low, but the fact that your acid level is high means you should lessen the intake of meat and increase intake in fruits and vegetable.
Logically it would be fine to continue drinking water kefir but because I don’t know your exact body condition, life style and etc, so I would recommend you to observe 1st before continuing drinking it. May I ask where did your high acidity came from?

If there is anyone successfully drinking kefir for their diabetes, please let me know how you are doing this. I mean, how much at a time and when such as, 4 ounces before a mean if that is what you do. I have tried to drink 5-6 “swigs” from the bottle (I have come to the conclusion that when I swig, it is about 1 Tbs of liquid so I’m talking 5-6 Tbs.) before bed and still had not too good readings in the morning. I tried to take it before a meal and sometimes afterwards. Is 5-6 tablespoons not enough? I originally started drinking kefir -oh, about 2 months ago, because I heard it was good for osteoporosis with the K2 in it and then later found information that it was to really help type 2 diabetes sugar levels so I was even more into drinking it. I won’t know for another 2 years if it is helping the bone density or not, so I am not in a hurry for that, but I think as a blood sugar control, I should see results a lot sooner. I buy the plain and I love it! I like using it in place of Bleu Cheese dressings in things, too, like on a salad. But as a diabetic aid, how much and when I am confused on. After two months I have seen no difference in my readings. Any information as what I should do next on my doses would be so appreciated. I’m kinda going blind here. Thanks!!!

I bought some Lifeway Kefir by the bottle but for a type 2 diabetic, I don’t know how much I should drink at a time or when. Is it before or after meals and how much? I have been drinking it now for over a month with no results. Btw, apple cider vinegar doesn’t work either and I am on a max of only 2 carbs per meal. sometimes I don’t eat even 1 carb. I look at food and my sugar goes over 200!

I think kifer needs more time to work with the blood. As it cleanses the guts and increase immune system but It doesn’t say cleanses the blood. Maybe eventually it does because some of the people I gave the kifer I received positive results Cancer patients, Asthma, intestinal problems, lactose tolerance, hypertension but have not heard on diabetes. Maybe it reacts more on salt issues than sugars. Well I take it early in the morning when there is nothing in my stomach and one at night before going to bed. I have been drinking kifer 3 months ago and my immune system is excellent. I used to get sick coughing when the weather changes because of my smoking. One instance when people around me get sick and they even cough at my face to make me to get the disease but I am ok. Also I have this lined pain in my backbone that somehow came back from a long time injury. This lined pain goes away eventually after a week feeling the pain. I think the kifer healed it. Now I am convinced kifer with healthy body will heal every thing in the body. As the saying goes “The body heals itself!” this is because of our white blood cells and other immune systems. I should say it will take some time to heal people with a lot of problem at hand. And with a type 2 diabetes I hope it can eventually regulate sugar as my uric acid is high as well as my amylase in the liver.

Your investigation on why people have diabetes isn’t totally truthful.
I am a diabetic. My mother and brother were diabetics. My aunts and uncles both sides had diabetes. My cousin had diabetes….do you see the patern here. The only alcohol I drank b/4 my diagnosis ..is one drink on my wedding anniversaries and a sip of wine at mass….b/4 my spinal stenosis I walked regularly…while not always eating the right foods, I always included salads, fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts in my diet.
Your view on why a person is diabetic was not only hurtful but offensive to those who try to eat right, exercise, and take in little if any alcoholic beverages. If you are born into a family where first and second generation members have diabetes, your chances of getting the disease increases by 50%….even if you watch your diet and keep your weight down, and DON’T drink ..you can still get diabetes just b/c it’s in your genes.

Sorry to see you perpetuating the type II diabetes myth that is is caused by laziness and poor diet-I often worked 12-14 hour shifts in a physically challenging job, never ate fast foods or ate a lot of sugar. I had a diet high in vegetables (home grown) BUT I followed the accepted diet of high carb low fat. I have type II diabetes